It is no exaggeration to say that Brentford could have scored a hatful at Griffin Park against Sheffield Wednesday in this Sunday afternoon clash, but thankfully, the Bees’ second home win of the new campaign was in the bag long before the final whistle.

The despondent Sheffield Wednesday fans back in the pub after the game rightly pointed out that Brentford hadn’t really had to shift out of first or second gear too often during the 90 minutes, and although there were numerous spurned one-on-ones that, on another day, could have found the net, there was a definite feeling that Dean Smith’s side were playing within their comfort zone.

In the first four games of season we have seen a clear air of confidence, and a certain swagger, about Brentford – and although one or two individual performances dipped slightly – the fans can certainly see ‘the real deal’ emerging.

To be fair, Sheffield Wednesday were in the contest for the first 20 minutes, that was until Lewis Macleod was pulled over while bursting into the penalty area, and Neil Maupay comfortably beat Cameron Dawson from the spot. Dan Bentley then saved well from Marco Matias, but from there on in it was one way traffic.

Neil Maupay caused havoc all afternoon and deserved to add to his tally – Dawson being forced into action constantly during the second period – but the Owls’ stopper could do nothing about the all-important clincher, when the unselfish Maupay teed up Ollie Watkins just past the hour mark.

As you will hear from the fans of both sides in the Beesotted pride of West London post-match podcast (link above) the Bees fully deserved the win, however, the lack of a clinical edge was there for all to see if we are being honest.

A subdued Sergi Canos had a couple of decent chances to add to the lead, as did Maupay and Watkins, as some really creative approach play carved Wednesday apart – and the introduction of Mokotjo, Benrahma and Judge in the latter stages of the game kept the attacks coming.

Speaking after the game the Brentford manager said, “We were very good and controlled the game for long periods… It should have been more emphatic, given the chances we had. Sometimes it is about good decision-making… There is good movement from the team, I know the players are good finishers and we will start taking our chances… We believe we have a squad which can go and compete in the league this season, but it is performances which get you results.”

His counterpart, Wednesday boss Jos Luhukay, added; “All credit to Brentford. They deserved the win and were a better team than us… They had chances to make it a bigger defeat and we have to thank our keeper for keeping the score down.”

Trips to Aston Villa on Wednesday, then Ewood Park, Blackburn, are next up for The Bees, but the team can travel north in confident mood – the squad have set themselves an impressive benchmark so far, its now for them to keep up that standard.

Dave Lane
@beesotted100

MOST READ CONTENT